Ugly in Different Languages: How to Say “Ugly”

The word “ugly” is used to describe something that is unpleasant or unattractive in appearance. Learning how to say ugly in different languages is useful for travelers, language learners, translators, writers, and anyone interested in how everyday words vary across cultures.

In some languages, the translation changes according to grammatical gender, number, or context. The table below provides ugly in all languages with the native expression, an easy English pronunciation, and a practical example sentence.

How to Say Ugly in Different Languages

Here are 70 common ugly translations from around the world. The examples use natural everyday contexts so you can see how each word or phrase works in a sentence.

#	Language	Native phrase	Easy English pronunciation	Example sentence	English meaning
1	Spanish	feo	FEH-oh	Ese edificio es feo.	That building is ugly.
2	French	laid	lay	Ce bâtiment est laid.	That building is ugly.
3	German	hässlich	HESS-likh	Das Gebäude ist hässlich.	The building is ugly.
4	Italian	brutto	BROOT-toh	Quel bâtiment è brutto.	That building is ugly.
5	Portuguese	feio	FAY-oh	Esse prédio é feio.	That building is ugly.
6	Dutch	lelijk	LAY-lik	Dat gebouw is lelijk.	That building is ugly.
7	Swedish	ful	fool	Huset är fult.	The house is ugly.
8	Norwegian	stygg	stigg	Huset er stygt.	The house is ugly.
9	Danish	grim	grim	Huset er grimt.	The house is ugly.
10	Finnish	ruma	ROO-mah	Talo on ruma.	The house is ugly.
11	Icelandic	ljótur	LYOH-tur	Húsið er ljótt.	The house is ugly.
12	Irish	gránna	GRAW-nuh	Tá an teach gránna.	The house is ugly.
13	Welsh	hyll	hill	Mae’r adeilad yn hyll.	The building is ugly.
14	Scottish Gaelic	grànda	GRAHN-duh	Tha an taigh grànda.	The house is ugly.
15	Polish	brzydki	BZHID-kee	Ten dom jest brzydki.	This house is ugly.
16	Czech	ošklivý	OSH-klee-vee	Ten dům je ošklivý.	This house is ugly.
17	Slovak	škaredý	SHKAH-reh-dee	Ten dom je škaredý.	This house is ugly.
18	Slovenian	grd	grt	Ta hiša je grda.	This house is ugly.
19	Croatian	ružan	ROO-zhan	Ovaj zid je ružan.	This wall is ugly.
20	Serbian	ружан	ROO-zhan	Ovaj zid je ružan.	This wall is ugly.
21	Bosnian	ružan	ROO-zhan	Ovaj zid je ružan.	This wall is ugly.
22	Bulgarian	грозен	GROH-zen	Този дом е грозен.	This house is ugly.
23	Macedonian	грд	grt	Овој дом е грд.	This house is ugly.
24	Romanian	urât	oo-RUHT	Casa este urâtă.	The house is ugly.
25	Hungarian	csúnya	CHOO-nyaw	Ez a ház csúnya.	This house is ugly.
26	Greek	άσχημος	ASH-hee-mos	Το σπίτι είναι άσχημο.	The house is ugly.
27	Albanian	i shëmtuar	ee SHUHMT-oo-ar	Ky objekt është i shëmtuar.	This object is ugly.
28	Russian	уродливый	oo-ROHD-lee-vy	Этот дом уродливый.	This house is ugly.
29	Ukrainian	потворний	poh-TVOR-nyy	Цей будинок потворний.	This house is ugly.
30	Belarusian	непрыгожы	neh-pree-HOH-zhy	Гэты дом непрыгожы.	This house is ugly.
31	Lithuanian	negražus	neh-GRAH-zhoos	Šis namas negražus.	This house is ugly.
32	Latvian	neglīts	NEHG-leets	Šis nams ir neglīts.	This house is ugly.
33	Estonian	kole	KOH-leh	See maja on kole.	This house is ugly.
34	Turkish	çirkin	CHEER-keen	Bu ev çirkin.	This house is ugly.
35	Azerbaijani	çirkin	cheer-KEEN	Bu ev çirkindir.	This house is ugly.
36	Armenian	տգեղ	tuh-GEH	Այս տունը տգեղ է։	This house is ugly.
37	Georgian	მახინჯი	ma-KHIN-jee	ეს სახლი მახინჯია.	This house is ugly.
38	Arabic	قبيح	qa-BEEH	هذا المبنى قبيح.	This building is ugly.
39	Hebrew	מכוער	me-KHO-ar	הבניין מכוער.	The building is ugly.
40	Persian	زشت	ZESHT	این ساختمان زشت است.	This building is ugly.
41	Urdu	بدصورت	bad-SOOR-at	یہ عمارت بدصورت ہے۔	This building is ugly.
42	Hindi	बदसूरत	bud-SOO-rut	यह इमारत बदसूरत है।	This building is ugly.
43	Bengali	কুৎসিত	KOOT-shit	বাড়িটি কুৎসিত।	The house is ugly.
44	Punjabi	ਬਦਸੂਰਤ	bud-SOO-rut	ਇਹ ਘਰ ਬਦਸੂਰਤ ਹੈ।	This house is ugly.
45	Gujarati	કદરૂપું	kuh-DROO-poo	આ ઘર કદરૂપું છે.	This house is ugly.
46	Marathi	कुरूप	koo-ROOP	हे घर कुरूप आहे.	This house is ugly.
47	Nepali	कुरूप	koo-ROOP	यो घर कुरूप छ।	This house is ugly.
48	Sinhala	කැත	KAH-tha	මේ ගෙදර කැතයි.	This house is ugly.
49	Tamil	அசிங்கமான	uh-SING-guh-maa-nuh	இந்த வீடு அசிங்கமானது.	This house is ugly.
50	Telugu	వికారమైన	vee-KAA-ruh-my-nuh	ఈ ఇల్లు వికారంగా ఉంది.	This house is ugly.
51	Kannada	ಕುರೂಪ	koo-ROO-pa	ಈ ಮನೆ ಕುರೂಪವಾಗಿದೆ.	This house is ugly.
52	Malayalam	വിരൂപമായ	vee-ROO-pa-ma-ya	ഈ വീട് വിരൂപമാണ്.	This house is ugly.
53	Chinese (Mandarin)	丑陋	chǒu lòu	这座建筑很丑陋。	This building is ugly.
54	Japanese	醜い	minikui	この建物は醜い。	This building is ugly.
55	Korean	못생긴	mot-saeng-gin	그 건물은 못생겼어요.	That building is ugly.
56	Vietnamese	xấu	sao	Ngôi nhà này xấu.	This house is ugly.
57	Thai	น่าเกลียด	naa-gliat	บ้านนี้น่าเกลียด	This house is ugly.
58	Indonesian	jelek	JEH-lek	Rumah itu jelek.	That house is ugly.
59	Malay	hodoh	HOH-doh	Rumah itu hodoh.	That house is ugly.
60	Filipino	pangit	PANG-it	Pangit ang bahay na iyon.	That house is ugly.
61	Khmer	អាក្រក់	ah-KRAHK	ផ្ទះនេះអាក្រក់។	This house is ugly.
62	Burmese	အရုပ်ဆိုးသော	ah-YOHK-soh-thaw	ဒီအိမ်က အရုပ်ဆိုးတယ်။	This house is ugly.
63	Swahili	mbaya	m-BAH-yah	Nyumba hiyo ni mbaya.	That house is ugly.
64	Zulu	kubi	KOO-bee	Le ndlu imbi.	This house is ugly.
65	Xhosa	mbi	m-BEE	Le ndlu imbi.	This house is ugly.
66	Afrikaans	lelik	LAY-lik	Daardie huis is lelik.	That house is ugly.
67	Hausa	mummuna	moom-MOO-nah	Gidan nan mummuna ne.	This house is ugly.
68	Yoruba	burúkú	boo-roo-KOO	Ilé yẹn burúkú.	That house is ugly.
69	Igbo	jọrọ njọ	JOR-uh NJOH	Ụlọ ahụ jọrọ njọ.	That house is ugly.
70	Amharic	አስቀያሚ	as-keh-YAH-mee	ይህ ቤት አስቀያሚ ነው።	This house is ugly.

Understanding the Word “Ugly” Across Languages

The translations above show that there is not always a single universal equivalent for “ugly.” Some languages use a general adjective for unattractive appearance, while others have different forms depending on gender, number, or the noun being described.

For example, Spanish commonly uses feo, while Italian uses brutto. In German, hässlich is a common equivalent. In Japanese, 醜い can describe something unattractive or unpleasant in appearance.

Context is important. A word describing an ugly building may not be the best choice for describing a person, an object, an artistic design, or an unpleasant situation.

Ugly in All Languages: What Does It Mean?

In everyday English, ugly usually means unattractive or unpleasant to look at. It can describe:

• A person’s appearance
• A building or object
• Clothing or decoration
• A design or artwork
• An unpleasant-looking situation
• Something metaphorically unpleasant

The tone can also change depending on context. Calling an object ugly may simply express an opinion, while describing a person that way can sound rude or insulting.

How to Say “Ugly” Politely

When learning how to say ugly in different languages, it is useful to understand that direct translations can carry different levels of harshness.

Instead of directly calling something ugly, speakers may use softer expressions such as:

• “Not very attractive”
• “It is not my style.”
• “It could look better.”
• “I don’t find it attractive.”
• “The design is unusual.”

These alternatives are especially helpful when speaking about another person’s appearance.

Ugly Translations and Grammar

Adjectives meaning “ugly” can change form in many languages. Gender and grammatical agreement are particularly important in languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, and several Slavic languages.

For instance, the form of an adjective may change depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine. This means that learning the dictionary form alone may not always be enough to create a grammatically correct sentence.

Asian languages can work differently. Japanese adjectives, Korean descriptive forms, and Mandarin adjectives do not follow the same grammatical patterns as European languages.

Ugly Around the World

The concept of physical attractiveness exists in every culture, but the way people discuss appearance differs significantly around the world. Some cultures favor direct descriptions, while others generally prefer indirect or polite wording.

This makes ugly around the world an interesting language-learning topic. Understanding both the translation and the cultural context can help learners communicate more naturally.

Common Uses of “Ugly”

The word “ugly” can be used in several ways in English.

Physical appearance:
“The building looks ugly.”

Objects and designs:
“That chair has an ugly design.”

Situations:
“Things became ugly after the argument.”

Behavior:
“His ugly behavior upset everyone.”

The intended meaning depends heavily on the sentence and context.

Tips for Learning Ugly in Different Languages

If you are memorizing these translations, start with a few languages that are personally useful rather than trying to learn all 70 at once.

A practical approach is to remember the native word together with a complete sentence. This helps you understand word order and grammar while also improving recall.

It is also helpful to check whether the adjective changes according to gender or number before using it in conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is “ugly” in Spanish?

“Ugly” in Spanish is commonly feo. The feminine form is fea, and the form changes according to grammatical agreement.

2. How do you say “ugly” in French?

“Ugly” in French is laid. The feminine form is commonly laide.

3. What is the Japanese word for ugly?

A common Japanese word for “ugly” is 醜い (minikui). It can describe something unattractive in appearance.

4. How do you say “ugly” in Hindi?

“Ugly” can be translated into Hindi as बदसूरत (badsūrat). It is commonly used for something or someone considered unattractive.

5. Is “ugly” rude when describing a person?

Yes, calling a person “ugly” can sound harsh or insulting in English and in many other languages. A softer expression such as “not very attractive” may be more appropriate in polite conversation.

Conclusion

Learning ugly in different languages is more than memorizing 70 vocabulary words. It also shows how languages handle adjectives, grammar, pronunciation, and cultural attitudes toward appearance. Use the table as a practical reference for ugly translations, and always consider the situation before using a direct description of someone’s appearance.